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With more than 29.6 million small businesses in the United States, small businesses are the cornerstone of the U.S. economic workforce, employing millions of people across the country, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy in 2009. There were 627,200 new businesses, but 595,600 businesses were closures and 43,546 were bankruptcies, according to the SBA. And small businesses risk failure because of poor planning and under capitalization, the SBA reports.

Business Entity Registration

Before you can start your business, you need to determine what legal entity the company will operate under: sole proprietorship, limited liability company, partnership or a corporation. Each business entity has different pros and cons to consider before filing the paperwork. A sole proprietorship can operate under your personal tax identification number as does a partnership. These are easy to form. You may request a fictitious name through the county clerk's office for your tax id number to help brand the company. All liabilities fall on the owners. Limited liability companies and corporations reduce personal liabilities. Corporations file for independent tax ID numbers whereas limited liability companies pass taxes to owner members. Corporations and limited liability companies file articles of incorporation or organization with the secretary of state.

Permits And Tax Registrations

Different businesses require different permits and tax registrations. Entities filing separate tax returns from the owners must file Form SS-4 with the Internal Revenue Service to obtain an Employer Identification Number. Each state and county has different tax registration requirements. Obtain pertinent information from your secretary of state or department of revenue. You may also need a business license to sell goods as well as any specialty permits and licenses required to solicit or sell services and goods such as investment products, firearms, alcohol or tobacco. Contact the local chamber of commerce for requirements and resources.

Phsycial Establishment

Some businesses open a storefront where others operate out of a home office or strictly online. Whatever your storefront is, you will need to organize your business physically. A brick-and-mortar establishment requires furniture and perhaps remodeling. An online business requires web development and possibly specialty programming. Make sure you have computers, furniture and the actual physical items required to provide goods and services to customers. This stage requires capital investment. If you don't have the money personally, speak with business banks and the Small Business Administration regarding SBA loans.

Marketing And Growth

Once you have your establishment physically set up, you must begin to market it to your target demographic. Depending on your business products, networking, print advertising and blogging may all fall into your marketing plan. It is wise to write your plan down with measurable goals that an evaluate the success of any one marketing scenario. For example, if you are using social networking as a marketing plan, create a counter that shows how customers find your website and how many buy once they are there. The ration between visitors and purchasers is called a conversion ratio. You want to view this ratio for all marketing to determine what strategies are your best growth scenarios.